4 A
WEDNESDAY. JUNE 18. 1863
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
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History from the file. of The
Mali Tribune 10. 20. 30, 40
end 50 veart S0-
10 YEARS AGO
June 19, 1953 (Frldiy)
Dedication of the now 51.
Mary's school and covent here
by Archbishop Edward D.
Howard of Portland, will
mark another milestone In the
institution's 88 yean of his
tory In Jackson county.
Eric W. Allen Jr., city edi
tor of the Medford Mall Trib
une, will be the second "Allen
fellow" at the school of Jour
nalism of the University of
Oregon, it was announced
here.
rat-iined ai pastor
.r'e i.nihrrn church
Frnm Arthur Perry's "Ye
smnriun rot" column: "The
ur-Hthor turned chilly, leav
ina possessors of Panama hats
wishing tney were equiFi"-u
with ear-mulls.
30 YEARS AGO
'June 19. 1933 (Monday)
Council Informed Medford
"wringing wet" by cnurcn
delegation.
Second ballot theft trial In
hands of Jury.
40 YEARS AGO
June 19, 1923 (Tuesday)
Sunday dinner could be ob
tained at the Hotel Medford
for $1 which Included relish
es, soup, choice of chicken,
steak, or prime ribs, dessert
and a beverage.
Jackson county to get spe
cial dry prosecutor for boot
leg cases.
50 YEARS AGO
June 19. 1913 (Thursday)
Mayor W. W. Elfert orders
clean up of city.
Red Germany's Anniversary
"The lid was blown off the Communist pressure-cooker
and the whole world could see what
was seething inside. Then the lid was quietly
rammed back again. Without protest from with
out or resistance from within, the Red Army
reinstalled the utterly discredited Pankow (East
Berlin) regime."
These few words from Richard H. S. Cross
man, British Laborite M.P., put the riots 10 years
ago in East Germany into a neat capsule.
Demonstrations against labor conditions in
East Berlin burst into major anti-Communist riots
on June 17, 1953. In East Berlin as many as
50,000 workers turned out for an assault on gov
ernment buildings. The riots were put down
only after Soviet troops with tanks shot their
way into the Potsdammer Platz.
The fever was contagious. The Reds ad
mitted, June 20, to strikes, arson, and riots in
at least a dozen East German cities from Warne
munde and Rostock in the north to southernmost
Zwickau.
Once the disorders had been put down, Mos
cow gave out the line that Western agents pro
voked the outbursts. But the German Communist
Party acknowledged that it had made "mistakes"
in its policies, and promised leniency.
e e
THE East German revolts were the first openly
1 reported satellite uprisings. A "Pilsen work
ers' revolt," which began in the Lenin Works
(formerly the Skoda munitions plant) in Czecho
slovakia and soon spread to Bohemia, Moravia,
and Slovakia, had been put down by force of
arms about two weeks earlier.
These near revolutions were the precursors
of the wave of rebellion that began in Poznan,
Poland in the summer of 1956 and ended in the
tragedy of Hungaiy.
In East Germany as later in Hungary the
revolutionary current, however uncontrolled, cer
tainly could not have been dammed without the
Red Army. Close to half a million Soviet per
sonnel were stationed there.
e
THE Hungarian Freedom Fighters might have
taken a lesson in advance from what happen
ed in and over East Germany. The Eisenhower
administration, pledged to "liberation", of the
Soviet satellites, avoided any action that might
be termed intervention in the affairs of the Soviet
zone.
The United States did offer East Germany
$15 million in food shipments. The Soviet Union
rejected the offer, and sc West Berlin set up
..!.. : i .. .. l ...u:-L 1 1 1 e t?..l
on vr&nq ago uisuiuuuuii puinis m which uiuusanus ui tiasi
June 19, i93 (Baiuraayi uermans wno pourca into tne city couia get
JS CJ "SSr ot si ! Fei- ' Eisenhower packages" of flour, lard, and other
scarce iooastuiis.
Ten years after the abortive riots, East Ger
many remains in the grip of the Red Army.
Our Pentagon spokesmen glumly refuse to
give out information on the armed strength of
East Germany, but an equally official source puts
the Soviet occupation force at 400,000 men, or
about 20 divisions. East Germany itself admitted
maintaining an army of 90,000 men in January
a year ago, when it instituted conscription. West
German sources gauge the East German army at
175,000 to 200,000 men, with 10,000 more in the
air force and 14,000 in the navy. Then there are
reported to be 30,000 in special police units,
50,000 in the border police, and 350,000 in the
factory militia.
Few of these can be considered thoroughly
reliable. Indeed, if Soviet occupation forces were
to be pulled out tomorrow, the militia and some
of the regular troops could probably be depended
upon for a revolutionary cadre. b.R.R.
Corpsmen Coming Home
Fifty-seven Peace Corps volunteers stationed
in Colombia will be mustered out of service Mon
day, June 24, after two years of duty in that
under-developed nation. These are the first Peace
Corps members to complete their tours; the pace
of separations will quicken in succeeding months.
These are not people returning from summer
vacation or languid study abroad. Peace Corps
Director Sargent bhriver describes them as vet
erans of two full years of trying situations and
difficult circumstances . . . who will know the in
teriors, the folkways, the languages of the world's
civilizations . . . people whose strength of charac
ter and sense of purpose have been tempered un
der fire.
DEACE CORPS officials have asked Congress
for funds to set up a placement service for
the returning volunteers, but not out of fear
that any of them will end up on relief. Private
employers have shown a lively interest by re
questing the names of corpsmen completing their
service. Government, too, is preparing a future
for the volunteers, offering careers in foreign
service or within the non-volunteer staff of the
Peace Corps itself.
In fact, a surfeit of opportunities seems to
present itself. Ford Foundation, for example, has
granted $400,000 to award 50 graduate fellow-
ships to discharged Peace Corps members.
The District of Columbia school system, among
othei-s, is offering salary placement credit for
corpsmen interested in entering teaching, and
New York State has waived normal certification
requirements.
All of this attention must look inviting and
icrhnps a bit lavish to the corpsmen who, for
io a month and bate subsistence, took part in
one of this nation's most successful exercises in
international understanding, occasionally at the
cost of their own health. E.R.R.
Communications
Letters to the Editor must bear the name and address of the writer,
although under certain circumstances the use of s pen name or Initial
for publication Is permissible. The Mall Tribune reserves the right to
edit all letters with a view to clarification and condensation. Letter
submit ted for publication must not exceed 400 words. The letters
printed In this column do not necessarily represent the views of the
paper. In fact the contrary is often the case.
Express Appreciation
To the Editor: and Friends.
During the last two months
my bosses and fellow teach
ers have, along with friends
and students, helped me with
kindness toward recovery
from a drastic surgical ses
sion. My wife and I both wish to
thank all those people who
were so very considerate of
her during her substitute ses
sion at Crater. .
We are now In the process
of moving to our new home
in Sams Valley.
Norm, Jeanne, Craig,
Lorl, and Scottie
-Carothcrs
3298 Forest ave.
Medford
IVfral's Your I.Q.7
Nine et ten correct It super!'!
seven or eight Is eacellenti live et
tia is good.
1. What agriculture crop
does t'.te boll weevil attack?
2. In which slate Is the
White Sands National Monu
ment?
3. Give the Arabic figures
for the Roman numerals XC.
4. Who was first titled Poet
Laureate of England?
S. Correct the following:
forbid you from entering the
house."
6. Is Ichtyology the study
of plants, fishes, birds, trees,
or minerals?
7. Docs the jet stream (hiiih
altitude air current) go from
east to west, or west to east,
or both?
8. Why do snakes sleep
with I heir eyes open?
9. Which is the most popu
In r commercial fur animal In
the U.S.?
10. How often each year
docs an equinox occur?
Answers! 1. Cotton. 2. New
Mexico. 3. 90. 4. Geoffrey
Chaucer. 6. "I forbid Tou to
enter . . .". 6. Fishes. 7. West
to east. 8. No eyelids. I. Mink
10. Twice.
Many Americans Are
Home Study Students
Washington -dirti- Based on
a recently completed corres
pondence school survey- an
estimated 3.S million Ameri
cans were home study stu
dents In 1962.
For the first lime, the num
ber of students engaged in
home study is nearing the to
tal college and university en
rollment of the United Slates,
according to the National
Home Study council here,
Prepares to Leave
To the Editor: I have only
two days left of my wonderful
experience here in Medford.
It has been a great year with
so many valuable experiences
to remember. I want to tell
everybody that I have enjoyed
every minute being with the
people ol Rogue valley. You
people here aro an example of
the good American people
When I return home I will
work for a better understand
ing among the people of the
rest of the world, and especial
ly for an even better relation
ship between United States
and Denmark. , -
It is very difficult to say
goodbye to you all, but 1 must.
I have liked America so much,
that I can't express it.
Before I leave I want to
give so many thanks to the
Crater Lions club who have
been sponsoring me this year.
They have all been so wonder
ful to me. Thanks to Medford
Senior high and all the kids I
have learned to know, You
have all been so great. A third
thanks goes to the people in
the community and now at
last but not at least I want to
give a great thank you to my
wonderful family, the James
P, Rowans. 1 can't express In
words how much I have en-
Joyed you all. I hope you will
take this word of thanks.
Jons Hasfcldt
American Field
Service 19U2-63
Denmark
type of advertising our super
ior scenery to tourists, and
join in fervently hoping that
this type of advertising our
magnificent scenery will not
be considered "a success."
Don't we get enough of the
"bang, bang" type of alleged
entertainment almost every
time we turn on our TV? Do
we not have something better
that we can offer our visitors?
If not, then better let them
see our magnificent scenery
for themselves, without this
kind of distraction, which at
best, as Mr. Teeters points out.
offers nothing better than a
cheap side-show Impression.
Let s just forget the whole
thing, huh? 1
; Frank Gray
122 Valley View Dr.
Medford
Agrees With Opinion
To the Editor: I heartily
agree with Jack Teeters' opin
ion regarding the "big guns"
Reminds Dog Owners
To the Editor: With the ar
rival of really hot weather, I
hope I may be permitted to
remind owners and custodians
of chained and shelterless ani
mals, of which there seems to
be far too many in our civil
ized community, and nearly
always dogs - that animals
really suffer from exposure to
the hot sun as well as heat in
general.
No less an authority than
Mr. R. Marlln Perkins, for
many years director of Chica
go's Lincoln Park Zoo and
now In St. Louis (we have all
seen him on NBC's beautiful
Sunday afternoon TV pro
gram "Animal Kingdom")
states that "chained dogs
should have shelter from the
sun." He also asks that they
be provided with shelter from
the cold weather.
It may be well to mention
that local law provides pen
alties ($100 and or 60 days in
jail) for those who fail to pro
vide adequate food, drink and
proper shelter (dry and of
sufficient size).
A chained dog is a pitiful
thing to see, particularly
when it is so easy to avoid.
Why not an overhead wire
with long chain attached, or a
grpund stake with chain? Or,
best of all, a fence?
And why, in all mercy, treat
your hunting dog, who has
served you well, so cruelly?
He needs shelter and some
freedom.
Ethel L. Marley
Rogue Valley Manor
Medford
British Guiana Capital in Grip of
General Strike; Protests Legislation
By PHIL NEWSOM
UP! Foreign News Analyst
In Georgetown, capital and
port of British Guiana, the So
viet freighter Kirovsic fin
ished the loading of 30,000
bags of rice and pulled out for
a destination unannounced
but believed to be Cuba.
Behind, it left angry and
hungry demonstrators who
charged the government with
deliberately trying to starve
them out in order to end a
general strike.
Almost unnoticed in the
press of other world events,
Georgetown' has been in the
grip of a general strike for
nearly two months.
It was called by the Guiana
Trades Union Council in pro
test against legislation which
the council charges would
give the government Communist-style
control over labor
unions.
It was not a new situation
for Prime Minister Cheddi B.
Jagan, the American-educated
dentist of East Indian extrac
tion who used to call himself
a Marxist but now declares
that he is a Socialist.
It was almost a duplication
of another general strike
which erupted against the
Jagan government in Febru
ary, 1962.
In that strike, 40,000 work
ers quit their jobs. Before it
was over six persons were
Peace Through . j Ty
Selective Hale tffi
By Arthur Hoppe iY K
Excuse my guilty look this
morning but I Just noticed
how everybody hates every
body these days. Human be
ings are going around kick
ing other human beings in
the head or , blasting them
with fire hoses or setting vi
cious dogs on them or . . .
And it's all my fault. I ran
out of lapel buttons for the
Love Everybody (Except Ant-
arcticans) Crusade.
You remember the LE-
(EA)C. It was founded on the
principle that everybody real
ly would love to love every
body. Except everybody des
perately needs somebody to
hate. In order to feel better.
And thus we of the LE(EA)C
promoted love by hating Pen
guins. '
Oh, how wondrously we
promoted love! In no time we
awakened an apathetic Amer
ica to the insidious interna
tion Penguin conspiracy. We
hammered away at the ever
growing infiltration of our
way of life by card-carrying
Penguins. PenSymps and Fel
low Waddlers. And finally we
stemmed the tide! For today,
there are undeniably no more
Penguins under your bed than
there were five years ago.
Or even ten.
And, oh, the warm kinship
that flourished between us
Penguin haters! Strangers, on
spying the little buttons say-
ing "HATE PENGUINS" on
each other's lapels, would em
brace on the street. And may
be even cry. For there is notlv
ing in this world that so floods
the soul with the Christian
spirit of Togetherness as shar
ing a nice, burning, mutual
hatred.
So there Mankind stood at
last, on the verge of a Gold'
en Era of peace, love and hap
piness through selective ha
tred. But then, as I say, I
ran out of lapel buttons.
And look what happened
Oh, I know there's no excuse
for my forgetfulness. Oh, I
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF
qHE MANAGING director of a national philanthropic
organization offers seven ways that rarely fail to nail
down a speaker for one of those dull, endless, fund-raising
banquets: 1, The "It s
not till next year" play.
(Most men will say "yes"
if they're asked far
enough in advance.) 2.
The "we need a really
outstanding personality
for this event" build-up.
3. The "all expenses paid,
plus a hundred dollars
for your favorite charity"
routine. 4. The '.ong dis
tance telephone approach
(necessitating a snap de
cision.) S. The "nobody
else can possibly do it
like you can baloney. 6.
"The committee practically sot up and cheered when your
name was suggested" huopU. And, finally, 7. The unmiti
gated gall approach: sending out a printed announcement
that you're the master of ceremonies or sole speaker before
you've even been invited!
e
Dinllosiontnr bulletin from a highbrow quarterly: bulls are
color blind and don t "o red'' el all . . . Nero couldn't have
fiddled while Rome burned becaua the violin was not Invented
until the Middle Ages . . . And It couldn't hava beon an apple
with which Eve tempted Adam, because apples don't grow in
that part ol the world.
e e
A gnaxled Indian chief was taken to a hot spot in Loa Angeles,
and saw Ue twist danced for the first time. His comment: "They'll
never bring rain with thai craiy dance:"
4) list, by Beoaett Onrt. DUtntmltd by Kia realurea Iradkata
meant to order more. But you
know how it is. You put things
off. You've got a dental ap
pointment or the grass needs
mowing or . . . And you nev
er can seem to find time these
days to save. the world. Can
you? ,
Mea culpa! I only pray it
isn't too late, but at last we
of the LE(EA)C have ordered
a whole batch of brand new,
1963 buttons. And once they
arrive we shall march for
ward, shoulder to shoulder in
mutual hatred, to promote a
brand new cause: Racism!
This time we will awaken
an apathetic America to an
even graver and more time
ly danger: The Penguinization
of our race! .
Do you want a Penguin, wo
will cry, to marry your sis
ter? Of course not. Preserve
the purity of our culture, we
will shout. Supply your po
liceman with a polar bear on
a leash. Attach the firehoses
to the warm water tap. And
should you see a mob of non
violent Penguins on your
lawn singing "We Shall Over
come," heave your bottle at
them. Remember: The Race
that Hates Together, Mates
Together!
So get a button today! Or,
more precisely, next month.
A new 1963 one is essential.
It doesn't say negatively
"HATE PENGUINS" like the
old 1962 models. It bodly pro
claims: "LOVE EVERY
BODY," Instead. Of course,
we had to qualify this a lit
tle by adding: "(Except Pen
guins)." But it's even got a
picture of a Penguin on it.
So you'll know which of your
sister's suitors to kick out
of the house
Yes sir, hatred and racism
will unite us human beings
yet. Selective hatred and hu
man racism. And now my
only worry is that it'll take
the button maker a couple of
weeks to make the buttons.
Some days, I'm not sure the
human race can hold out that
long.
Strictly Personal
By Sydney J. Harris
(c) Field Enterprises. Inc.
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN
A recent issue of the "Sat
urday Review" devoted a spe
cial section to "The Educa
tion of Wom
en," with ar
tides by a
number of
male and fe
rn a 1 e educa
lors, includ
ing the direc
t o r of the
American As
soc 1 ation of
Ham U n I v c rsity
Women. I don't care at this
point to become involved in
the general philosophical
questions of how much edu
cation women should have,
what kind, and what oppor
tunities should be opened to
her after special training. It
would take a book, not mere
ly an essay, to explore these
subjects.
What has perplexed me for
a long time, however. Is the
relative fewness of profes
sional ' women in American
life, as compared with many
European societies, where op
portunities would seem to be
more restricted.
A statistical profile in
the magetine. for instance,
showed thai we hava only
( per cent of female doc
tors in this country - soma
16.000 out of a total of
260.000. Yet. educationally,
women receive 38 per cent
of all bachelors' and first
professional degrees. 31
per cent of all masters' de
grees, and even 11 per cent
of all doctors' degrees. (Fe
male lawyers are even
scarcer, comprising only
J'l per cent, some 1.500
out of a total of 288.000
quahllad attorneys in the
United States.) .
In Canada, which is
roughly similar to us in
economic and social com
position, there are twice as
many female doctors in ra
tio to male doctors - 12
per cent of the total. And
in some European countries
- Russia especially - the
percentage is again dou
bled to 25 per cent. One
out of every four Russian
physicians is a woman.
There is, as everyone
knows, a drastic shortage
of docton in the United
Stales. Reporting recently
in the "American Journal
of Public Health." Dr. Mar
tin Cherkasky. director of
New York City's celebrated
Montefiore Hospital, ob
served that: "One of our
most critical problems is
the doctor shortage. Unless
this is solved, no real prog
rest can be made. We need
twice as many new medi
cal schools as we have, for
unlets doctors are available
in ample supply all of our
medical care hopet are in
jeopardy."
As far as male students are
concerned, there are some
staggering personal financial
obstacles to becoming a doc
tor. It is likely that only Fed'
era I support of medical stu
dents will be able to maintain
an adequate supply. Yet if
more female college students
were encouraged to enter
medicine - and. most of all
if they felt that a rightful
place would be made for them
- this shortage might be eased
considerably.
There is no reason that a
woman should be relegated
to the role of a nurse. Espe
cially with so many second-
rate doctors around.
killed, scores injured and
nearly $30 million damage
suffered by property in mob
looting and burning.
The immediate cause was a
new government ouagei in
cluding new taxes which the
unions charged w o u l a be
borne mostly by the workers.
But behind it also was resent
ment among the unions
against government attacks on
the unions and against union
leaders and racial differences
which color all Guiana affairs.
These differences are be
tween the East Indians who
work on the plantations in the
countryside and Negroes who
labor in the city.
Gets Plantation Support
Jagan draws his support
from the plantation workers.
In the city, the unions' are
anti - Jagan, anti - Communist
and fearful of the results if
Jagan ever heads up a Guiana
totally independent of Britain.
The unions are demanding
Jagan's resignation.
Jagan made several visits
to Cuba and has expressed ad
miration for both Castro and
Nikita Khrushchev.
It is perhaps accidental that
in his present extremity he
also has received aid from
Cuba. The government's import-export
corporation an
nounced last week that a Cu
ban ship, the Maria Theresa,
had arrived with essential
food and fuel supplies. The
Import-Export Corporation is
the agent for all Cuban and
Russian ships.
As for the United States at
titude toward Jagan, it is in a
position of being damned if
it does and damned if it
doesn't. It fears that Jagan
might give the Reds their first
solid foothold on the continent
of South America. It has been
wary of too much aid to Jagan
but on the other hand would
like to believe him when ha
says he believes in democracy.
As the present strike fol
lows its course of violence,
one conclusion seems certain.
It is not likely to convince
Britain or the United States
that Guiana is ready for the
total independence J a g a a
seeks.
Today & Tomorrow
By Walter lippmann
(c) 1063, The Washington Post
FREE AND ASSOCIATED
PUERTO RICO
In the endless series of
problems about which some
thing needs to be done be
cause s o m e
thing has gone
wrong, the
island of Puer
to Rico is a
shining excep
tion. Since
X I 1898, when
VI j 'i Spain ceded
the island to
the United
Lippmion States, the
Puerto Ricans have been
treated with an enlightenment
and generosity which are un
usual in the experience of
colonies.
This happened because the
American people are deeply
anti-colonial at heart and have
never been willine to think
of themselves as the perma
nent owners and masters of
colonies. In all of their deal
ings with dependent lands,
however they have been ac
quired, the American people
have always had as a positive
object of policy the prepar
ation of the colony for free
dom. In the case of Cuba and
the Philippines, the goal has
been national independence.
In the case of continental ter
ritories which were purchased
or conquered, the goal has al
ways been statehood. In the
case of Hawaii and Alaska, it
has also been statehood.
TN THE CASE of Puerto
Rico, the goal has become a
unique arrangement, dictated
by the special conditions of
race, language, cultural tradi
tion, economic necessity and
history. Until 1952, Puerto
Rico was an American colony.
Since 1952, it has been, if we
translate from the Spanish of
Its official title, a "free associ
ated state." In Amerl can
usage, Puerto Rico is not a
state, it is not independent, it
is a commonwealth in an as
sociation with the United
States, which rests upon a
compact between the Congress
and the people of Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Ricans are citi
zens of the United States, but
they do not vote in elections
outside of Puerto Rico. They
have a commissioner who sits
in the House of Representa
tives, but he does not vote.
The Puerto Ricans are subject
to. the draft, and the United
States is responsible for the
foreign policy and defense of
the island. But no taxes are
collected for the benefits of
the United States Treasury.
Federal legislation, apart from
tax legislation, may be, but
need not be, applied to Puerto
Rico. This includes federal
grants-in-aid, though usually
Congress does make them ap
plicable. This hybrid has worked ex
tremely well. Indeed, under
the leadership of Gov. Louis
Munoi Marin, it i5 working
brilliantly. It has only one
serious defect. It is that the
association docs not have an
invulnerable legal basis which
all Puerto Ricans recognize
and is also understood among
their neighbors. There u,
therefore, an increasing appre
hension and doubt that the as
sociation might not last.
On Dec. 3. 1962, the Legis
lative Assembly of Puerto
Rico proposed to the United
States Congress "the prompt
settlement in a democratic
manner" of the status of Puer
to Rico. In response to thi-,
proposal, theic i now a bill
in Congress, introduced by
Mr Aspinall of Colorado,
which callx for a joint United
States - Puerto Rico compact
commission to draft "a com
pact of permanent union." If
this new compact is author
ized by Congress and Is rati
fied by a referendum of the
Puerto Rican Deoole. it will
establish a union which neith
er country can unilaterally
dissolve.
THE Aspinall Bill provides
that in lha . C, 1 . 1.
.. ... aVAClCllUUm ma
pepple of Puerto Rico shall
be given three . choices: tha
more perfect compact worked
out by the commission, na
tional independence and state
hood within the federal uninn.
In fact, the real choice lie
between the present compact
with its defective base and a
more perfect compact. For
independence, while theoreti
cally conceivable, would causa
vastly more problems than it
could solve.
Since the beginning of this
century, Puerto Rico has
evolved in association with
the United States. To tear it
loose now, to push it outsida
the United States' economy,
to ask it to provide its own
military defense and to enter
into world politics, would
cause a convulsion if not a
disaster. This is so well under
stood in Puerto Rico that tha
vote for independence is
negligible.
There is, however, a grow
ing demand in Puerto Rico tot
admission to the Union as a
state. It has the backing of
certain industrial interests, of
some members Of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, of tha
Puerto Rican Statehood Re
publican party, and it appeals
to a certain sentiment among
many Puerto Ricans. But tha
fact of the matter is that tha
prospects of the United States
Congress admitting Puerto
Rico as a state are virtually
nil.
For one thing, Puerto Rico
would be entitled to two sen
ators and six representatives,
which would give it more
voting power in the House of
Representatives than 23 of tha
existing states. It would out
vote, to pick at random, such
states as Arizona, Arkansas,
Colorado, Kansas, Maine, New
Hampshire; it would have as
many votes as Connecticut,
Oklahoma and South Caro
lina. TT IS HARD to imagine what
consideration would indues
the Congress to give such po
litical power inside the -United
States to what is in fact a for
eign people speaking a foreign
language and living under
quite different social institu
tions. All that the agitation for
statehood is likely to accom
plish is to generate bitter dis
appointment. That is to say it
would destroy a relationship
which works exceedingly well
in practice and is a high credit
to both peoples.
The perfecting of the com
pact, which is the next busi
ness of both peoples, would in
fact be begun by the passaga
of the Aspinall Bill. The nub
of it is in the first sentenca
which says that the Congress
"duly recognizing the in
herent right and juridical ca
pacity of the people of Puerti
Rico to govern themselves and
to establish such relationships
with the government of tha
LUted States as are freely
agreed upon . . ." That declar
ation erases all the vestiges of
the original colonial status nf
Puerto Rico, establishes tho
independence of Puerto Rico
and its capacity to enter into
a compact with the United
States.
Once the perfected compact
is authorized by the Congress
and ratified in the Puerto
Rican referendum, a union
which is as indestructible
that of the states will hava
come into being. For It will
rest upon a compact between
the two peoples, each possess
ing "the inherent right and
juridical capacity" to enter
into such a compact.
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